Tower of Wizardry
A Tower of Wizardry (or just "Tower") is a type of Encounter Zone and a magical bridge between the realms of Arcanus and Myrror. There are exactly 6 of these structures created at the start of every campaign, and no new ones may appear in an ongoing game. A single Tower of Wizardry simultaneously occupies the same location on both Planes, and can be considered as actually being two Tower'''s that are inextricably linked to one another. Any unit occupying one of these '''Towers is said to be present in both Towers, on both Planes, at the same time. Such units can essentially choose which Plane to move on when leaving the Tower's tile. A liberated Tower does not "belong" to any one Wizard - any army can utilize it to move to the other Plane. This is why powerful empires will try to block Towers in their area with mighty armies to prevent rivals from using them. Before a Tower of Wizardry can be used however, its original garrison must first be defeated. Towers of Wizardry are some of the more difficult Encounters in the game, and can potentially be as difficult, if not more so, than Arcanian Nodes. Based on random chance, they may be guarded by Fantastic Creatures from any of the 5 Realms of magic. The rewards for defeating a Tower of Wizardry's garrison are partly random, and vary based on the strength of the creatures found within. Whatever the rewards however, the Wizard conquering a Tower of Wizardry will win at least one new spell, if possible. If Spellbooks are awarded, they can potentially be of any of the 5 colors! Unconquered Towers of Wizardry may occasionally spawn new Rampaging Monster groups. The type of monsters spawned depends on the color of the creatures guarding the Tower. The strength of such groups increases as the game matures. These monsters will head straight for any nearby Town controlled by one of the Wizards. On higher Difficulty Settings, they will typically head straight for the human player's Towns. Description A Tower of Wizardry is a magical construction built by the wizards of old in order to connect the worlds of Arcanus and Myrror, and allow even non-magical beings to cross between them with ease. As the elder empires fell, these Towers have fallen into disuse and have attracted powerful monsters who will fight ferociously to defend them. Each Tower of Wizardry built on one of the Planes has a corresponding "twin" Tower on the other Plane. Any creature standing in one of these Tower'''s co-exists in both of them simultaneously. The creature can then step through the correct door to leave into either of the Planes - thus having an instant teleportation device! '''Towers of Wizardry appear on the map as tall, round, green towers, with a somewhat crumbled top. After a Tower of Wizardry is cleared of its monstrous defenders, it can be reactivated - in which case its insides will show a visible eerie-green glow. This can help the player to quickly distinguish an activated Tower from one that's still defended by monsters. Towers of Wizardry are always placed on top of a Grassland tile. On occasion, the placement of these Towers can form a tiny island out in the middle of the Ocean - giving another good reason to explore the vast blue waters. The Encounter Zone books cannot get , and vice versa)| ZoneType = Tower | PAGENAME_PLURAL = Towers of Wizardry}} A Bridge Between the Planes The reason that the ancient empires built these Towers of Wizardry in the first place was to allow instantaneous and reliable travel between the worlds of Arcanus and Myrror. Despite centuries or possibly even millennia passing since then, the Towers still function in this manner! Once a Tower of Wizardry has been cleared of its original defenders, it will permanently glow green - indicating that it has been restored to active status. From this point onward, any unit can use this Tower to switch between Arcanus and Myrror freely. A unit or army stack occupying the location of a Tower of Wizardry will coexist in two locations simultaneously: the position of the Tower it entered, and the position of the corresponding Tower on the other Plane. The stack can be seen when examining either Plane, because it exists on both at the same time. Therefore, while the stack is selected, the "Plane" button can be clicked until the desired plane is reached, and the stack can then be moved out of the Tower. To get back to the other Plane, the stack can re-enter the Tower and, after clicking the "Plane" button, be moved out of the Tower again. Note that this coexistance also means that an army inside a Tower of Wizardry is exposed to attacks on both Planes simultaneously. In other words, even if this army does not actively switch between the Planes, enemy units on either side may attack it by moving into the Tower's tile. The Tower of Wizardry can also be used to build Roads on Ocean and Shore tiles, where these cannot normally be built, or to make units pass through these tiles without being actually able to walk on the water (see more on Roads page). However, this is unlikely to be intentional behaviour, and is possibly the result of one or more bugs in the program. Blocking Access As mentioned above, a Tower of Wizardry is never owned by any specific empire. If the Tower's tile is empty, any army can move into it and utilize its power to move between the Planes. As a result, an empire that manages to liberate a Tower of Wizardry has some incentive to place an army in that Tower, thus blocking any passage through it. Any other empire that wishes to enter this Tower will need to attack and destroy the defenders first. This technique is particularly important to Myrran Wizards. It is certainly in their interest to prevent any of the rival Arcanian empires from gaining access to Myrror. The best way to do so would be to use the spell, but if this is not available, the next best thing may be to reach each and every Tower of Wizardry, clear it of its original guardians, and then garrison it with powerful forces that cannot be easily defeated. As long as rivals can be kept out of Myrror, the Myrran Wizard's empire is relatively safe, and he/she can spend some more time consolidating his/her position, tackling the valuable Myrran Encounter Zones, and taking over Nodes and Neutral Towns. Of course, this strategy falls apart if any enemy has access to , , or ... Category:Terrain Specials Category:Encounter Zones